What's Actually in Gladiatore: All 12 Ingredients at Full-Scoop Doses

Pick up most pre-workouts and flip the tub around. You'll see a "proprietary blend" with one total weight next to it. Maybe it says 6,000mg. What it doesn't tell you is how that 6,000mg splits across eight ingredients. Could be 5g of cheap filler and a sprinkle of the stuff you actually came for. You have no way to know.

Gladiatore is built the opposite way. Twelve actives, every single gram printed on the panel. No blends, no hiding, no math you can't check. This post walks through all twelve at their real full-scoop dose (1 scoop = 31.73g) and what each one is doing while you train. If you run a half scoop, halve every number below.

One heads up before we start. A full scoop carries 400mg of caffeine plus 2.5mg of yohimbine. This is a high-stimulant formula built for experienced lifters, fighters, and combat athletes who already tolerate stims. If you're new to pre-workout, sensitive to caffeine, under 18, or pregnant or nursing, this isn't your product. Everyone else: start with a half scoop to assess tolerance, never stack it with other caffeine sources, and talk to your physician if you're unsure.

The pump and blood flow stack

L-Citrulline Malate 2:1 — 7g

Citrulline is the pump engine. Your body converts it to L-arginine, which feeds nitric oxide production, which widens blood vessels and moves more blood into working muscle. More blood flow means more oxygen and nutrients coming in and metabolic byproducts like lactate clearing out faster. That's the fullness you feel mid-set and a big reason later reps don't fall off as hard.

Research generally points to a 6 to 8g range of citrulline malate for performance effects. One frequently cited study associated citrulline malate with more reps to failure and less reported soreness two days later. The evidence is mixed across studies, but that's the window that keeps showing up. Gladiatore runs 7g, sitting in the center of it. Most "pump matrix" blends bury 1 to 2g and hope you don't notice.

L-Arginine — 7g

Arginine is the direct precursor to nitric oxide, the molecule citrulline raises indirectly. Running both is a deliberate choice. You're feeding the nitric oxide pathway from two angles at once. Citrulline keeps blood arginine elevated over a longer window, while a straight 7g of arginine adds to the substrate pool up front. At 7g each, that's 14g of pump-focused aminos in one scoop, all printed, none hidden.

The work-capacity stack

Beta-Alanine — 4g

Beta-alanine is the burn-delay ingredient. It raises muscle carnosine, and carnosine buffers the acid that builds during hard sets. When you hold off that drop in muscle pH, research suggests you hold power and rep quality longer, with the effect showing up most in efforts roughly one to several minutes long. Think the back half of a heavy set, a finisher, a hard round on the bag.

Position-stand research clusters effective intakes around 3.2 to 6.4g per day. Gladiatore's 4g sits squarely in that band. Beta-alanine is also the source of the tingle on your scalp, neck, and hands, called paresthesia. It's harmless and tends to show up above roughly 0.8g in a single dose, which a 4g serving clears with room to spare. If it's new to you, that prickle is the beta-alanine arriving, not a problem.

Betaine Anhydrous (TMG) — 4g

Betaine gets underrated because it doesn't have a flashy feel. It supports cellular hydration and methylation, and trials associate it with improvements in power output and strength in trained people. The original 2010 work used 2.5g daily and reported gains in bench and squat power versus placebo. A later meta-analysis of 14 trials found a moderate overall benefit to strength and power, strongest in trained individuals.

Gladiatore goes above the classic study dose at 4g, fully dosed with margin. Betaine is one of the first things skimped in a hidden matrix because you can't feel it the way you feel caffeine. At 4g on an open label, you know it's actually there.

The energy and focus stack

Caffeine Anhydrous — 400mg

The headline stimulant. Caffeine blocks adenosine receptors, which is the mechanism behind the alertness, the drive, and the drop in perceived effort that makes a heavy session feel more manageable. 400mg is a high but intentional dose, roughly four cups of coffee in one scoop.

Respect it. 400mg sits at the upper end of what's broadly considered a safe daily ceiling for healthy adults, and Gladiatore puts that whole amount in one serving. So: don't exceed one serving in 24 hours, don't stack it with coffee, energy drinks, or another pre-workout, and start at a half scoop (200mg) until you know how you handle it. If you're stimulant-sensitive, this isn't your product.

Theobromine — 400mg

Theobromine is caffeine's cousin from the cacao plant, and it's in here for a reason. It's a milder stimulant with a longer half-life. Where caffeine spikes fast and clears in a few hours, theobromine comes on gentler and lingers. Studies put its half-life around 7 to 12 hours versus caffeine's 3 to 7. Pairing the two is how you stretch the energy curve so the session doesn't peak at minute fifteen and crater by minute forty. Caffeine brings the punch, and 400mg of theobromine helps hold the line behind it.

L-Tyrosine — 1g

Tyrosine is an amino acid your body uses to build the catecholamines (dopamine, noradrenaline, adrenaline), the same neurotransmitters a hard training stimulus and a big caffeine dose lean on heavily. Research associates tyrosine with supporting cognitive performance under stress and depletion. In a high-stim formula, the 1g here is there to support the raw material your brain is burning through when you're locked in and grinding.

L-Theanine — 800mg

Theanine is the smoothing agent. On its own it's associated with a calm, relaxed-but-alert state. Paired with caffeine, one of the most-studied combinations in this category, it takes the rough edges off. Research associates caffeine plus theanine with better accuracy on attention tasks and less of the jittery, scattered feeling caffeine alone can bring. Studied pairings often sit near a 2:1 theanine-to-caffeine ratio at lower doses. Gladiatore runs 800mg of theanine against 400mg of caffeine, a clean 2:1, to keep that 400mg feeling like focus instead of anxiety. The ratio is intentional, and you can verify it because both numbers are printed.

The foundation: electrolytes and a vitamin

Sodium (as bicarbonate) — 800mg

Sodium is the electrolyte that actually matters during training, and it does two jobs here. As an electrolyte it supports fluid balance and the muscle contractions you're asking for set after set. And because it's delivered as sodium bicarbonate, it doubles as a buffer. Bicarbonate is one of the body's primary tools for managing the acid produced during intense effort, working alongside the beta-alanine. 800mg is a meaningful dose, not a trace.

Magnesium (as citrate) — 45mg

Magnesium is involved in hundreds of processes, including muscle contraction and the energy reactions that power them. Hard training and heavy sweating draw it down. The citrate form is chosen for absorption. The 45mg here is a supportive top-up on top of your diet, rounding out the electrolyte foundation rather than trying to be your only source.

Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) — 1g

A full 1g (1,000mg) of vitamin C is a notably generous amount for a pre-workout. Most don't bother. Vitamin C is an antioxidant your body uses to help manage the oxidative stress that intense exercise naturally generates, and it plays a role in normal tissue and collagen processes. Putting a real gram of it on an open label is the kind of decision that tells you who formulated this and why.

The one to respect: yohimbine

Yohimbine — 2.5mg

Yohimbine is the sharpest tool in the formula and the one to treat with the most respect. It's a stimulant, an alpha-2 adrenoceptor antagonist that raises noradrenaline and drives up physiological arousal. The result is a heightened, locked-in intensity layered on top of the caffeine.

It's also dose-sensitive. Research notes yohimbine can raise blood pressure and, at higher doses, increase anxiety and nervousness, more so in people already prone to it. Gladiatore keeps it at a deliberate, conservative 2.5mg per full scoop, not the megadoses some fat-burner labels chase. If you're stimulant-sensitive or anxiety-prone, this ingredient is exactly why the half-scoop start rule exists and exactly why this is an experienced-user product.

One more thing worth knowing. Independent testing has found yohimbine supplements containing anywhere from 0 percent to nearly 370 percent of their labeled amount. That's the whole argument for an open label in one sentence. When a stimulant this sensitive is on the panel at an exact, printed 2.5mg, you know what you're taking. With a proprietary blend, you're trusting a number nobody will show you.

Why the open label is the point

Add it up and a full scoop of Gladiatore is twelve actives, each one dosed and printed: 7g citrulline malate, 7g arginine, 4g beta-alanine, 4g betaine, 400mg caffeine, 400mg theobromine, 1g tyrosine, 800mg theanine, 800mg sodium bicarbonate, 45mg magnesium, 1g vitamin C, 2.5mg yohimbine.

Every one of those numbers is something you can check, compare, and decide on. That's not a marketing flourish. It's the difference between a product you can evaluate and a blend you have to take on faith. Gladiatore is a high-stimulant formula for people who already know their way around one: mix one scoop in 8 to 12oz of cold water 20 to 30 minutes before training, start at a half scoop to find your tolerance, never exceed one serving in 24 hours, and never dry-scoop it. Black Stallion is family-owned out of Freehold, New Jersey, and ships nationwide.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.